This horn appears to have been very well-used since
its silver plating shows considerable wear. As
received it was in very poor shape with several
missing braces and broken solder joints but with very
few patches and dents. Three other examples of this
model horn are known. Serial number
24831
is owned by Michael Keller, who has recorded the sales
of two others:
number 25437, which was missing it's thumb lever, was
sold in December, 2006.
Serial number 25509, just 3 numbers higher than the
one shown here, was sold on July 06, 2010. It and the
subject horn are both is stamped U S Q M C (United
States Quartermaster Corps) suggesting that they were
part of the same contract with the U.S. Army. (See the
table of BMIC instruments supplied to the U.S.Q.M.C.
at the bottom of this page.)

The Boston Musical
Instrument Company was the
successor to The
Boston Musical Instrument Manufactory which was
founded in 1869 with partners Henry Esbach, Louis
F. Hartmann, and William Goldmann Reed.
The company was originally located at 71 Sudbury
Street in the premises formerly occupied by E.G.
Wright. On July 6, 1899 the building was
destroyed by fire and the firm relocated to 51 Chardon
Street. Henry Esbach died in 1902 and his share of the
company passed to Louis F. Hartmann. About that time
the company name was changed from the Boston Musical
Instrument Manufactory to the Boston Musical
Instrument Company, however it was not
incorporated under that name until 1913. Louis F.
Hartmann died in 1903 leaving William Reed as the sole
surviving original partner and owner. In December of
1898 Reed had married Mary Brabrook Gale, daughter of
Boston businessman George W. Gale (1837 -
1916). In 1904 management was turned over to the
Gale family with her George W. Gale, as President and
Director, and his son, Willard N. Gale, treasurer.1
William G. Reed died the following year leaving the
company fully in the hands of the Gale family. The
Gales had no direct experience in musical instruments
making and not much time to devote to the firm. At
first the company continued to prosper but following
the Bankers' Panic of 1907 it dwindled to a fraction
of its former worth as indicated by its tax
valuations.2 On January 1, 1913 the company was
incorporated, and $9,000 in preferred and $21,000 in
common stock was authorized.3 Geroge W. Gale died in Boston on
July 29, 1916 and his son Willard Gale took over as
president, with Paul Dean, clerk. Charles R.
Harris was engaged as manager but his background
in restaurant management and with a milling company
was not well-suited to the company.

Following World War I the
Boston Musical Instrument Company was sold to
Cundy-Bettoney. In 1918 the two companies were
at separate locations but by 1921 they were
both located at 51 Chardon Street. Boston
Musical Instrument Company continued in
operation until about 1928. On January 4, 1927
the authorized preferred stock was reduced by
$5,400 to $3,600, and the common stock by
$12,000 to $9,000. The corporation was not
formally dissolved until March 23, 1955.

The high serial numbers of this horn and the
earlier one marked USQMC mentioned above,
places their estimated date of manufacture
late in the company’s history, probably in the
late 1920s.4

Thumb Operated Change Valve

BMIC double horn S/N 24831Photo courtesy of Michael Keller

C.F. Schmidt Piston

The photo above left shows the rotary
thumb valve used to switch the horn from F to
Bb. It has a lever mounted above with a typical
string linkage to the rotor. This lever is
pressed downward by the player to activate the
rotor. This lever is not the original one,
however, which can be seen at the left of the
rotor attached and pivoted at the lower knuckle.
Missing is its spring and the arm that would be
connected to the rotor by a string linkage. The
player would press the lever horizontally to the
right to activate the rotor. The center photo
shows this arrangement on the horn owned by
Michael Keller. This earlier rotor is much
taller than on the subject horn and the valve
ports are spaced farther apart. For comparison,
the photo at the right shows the true C.F.
Schmidt piston change valve.

Despite the statement on the label
that it was “Made by The Boston Musical
Instrument Company” these horns were most
likely imported. This is suggested by the use
of metric thread screws in the valve assembly
and by the four-pointed star-shaped feet on
the braces that are peculiar to the
instruments of A.K. Hüttl of Graslitz,
Czechoslovakia.5 Other secondary
characteristics such as the pinky hook and
bell brace, shown below can be useful
indicators, but have not yet been
associated with any specific maker.

Some
Boston Musical Instrument Company Instruments
Supplied to the U.S. Quartermaster Department /
Corps6

Special thanks to Mike
Keller for additional information on other examples of
BMIC double model horns, including his own, and for the use of
a photo of the thumb lever linkage on his horn. Thanks also to
Robb Stewart and Robert Eliason for tax and serial number
data.

Notes

1. Ayars (1937)
states the year of the name change as 1913, however The
Directory of Directors in the City of Boston and
Vicinity 1905 and following show Mr. Gale as
president and director of Boston Musical Instrument Company.
Other sources state the name was changed as early as 1902.
At the same time Mr. Gale also held the same titles with the
George W. Gale Lumber Co., the Lumber Mutual Fire Insurance
Co. of Boston, and National City Bank (Cambridge). In
1915 Mr. Gale and four other directors of the bank, were
found guilty of negligence connected with the failure of the
bank in 1909 due to the actions of bookkeeper, George W.
Coleman. (back)

2. The tax valuation in 1907 was 10,000
but in 1908 it fell to 6,800. I rose to 8,000 in 1910 but
then fell back to 5000 the following year. At the time of
incorporation in 1913 it plummeted to 1,200 and then
to a low of 1,100 in 1915 where it remained until sold to
Cundy-Bettoney in 1919. (Tax valuations from the City of
Boston Archives, compiled by Robert Eliason).(back)

3. After 1913 ownership and management
of the company becomes somewhat murky. According to an
article in the Elkhart Indiana Daily Review in 1913,
Karl Blessing, son of Elkhart brass insturment maker Emil
Blessing, was a salesman for Boston Musical Instrument Co.
The same article mentions that Karl Nelson was "head" of the
company, Karl (Carl) Nelson, was also a principal in Vega
Co. in Boston, founded in 1881 by Swedish-born Julius Nelson
and several partners. Later his brother Carl joined the firm
and became the office and sales manager. The company
manufactured fretted string instruments. Its shop was
located across the street from Boston Musical Instruments
Company. In 1905 they absorbed the plectrum instrument
making of Thompson & Odell and about four years later,
their brass instrument manufacturing business at 62 Sudbury
St, the former works of Hall and Quinby.(back)

4. A list of serial numbers compiled by
Robb Stewart ends with 22220 in 1920, a year after the BMIC
was acquired by Cundy-Bettoney. All of the numbers on known
examples of this model horn are greater than that so it must
be assumed that C-B was responsible for arranging the
import.(back)

5. The very prolific firm A.K. Hüttl was
founded by Anton Konrad Hüttl (1826 -1901) in 1877, and
flourished in Graslitz, Czechoslovakia until 1945. An
advertisement from 1913 claimed it was the largest, most
modern, and highest yield factory of Austria-Hungary and
Germany. In 1925 it employed a workforce of over 200.
Interestingly, three long-time workers at the Boston Musical
Instrument Manufactory and subsequent Boston Musical
Instrument Company were the brothers Anton, Erhardt, and
Ferdinand Hittl (or Hüttl). No direct relationship to the
firm A.K. Hüttl has been established, however, and these
horns were made long after the lives of these men. (back)

6. The Quartermaster Corps is the U.S.
Army's oldest logistics branch, established 16 June 1775. On
that date the Second Continental Congress passed a
resolution providing for "one Quartermaster General of the
grand army and a deputy, under him, for the separate army."
From 1775 to 1912 this organization was known as the
Quartermaster Department. In 1912, Congress consolidated the
former Subsistence, Pay, and Quartermaster Departments to
create the Quartermaster Corps.(back)